Occupation: Part-Time Graduate Student / Keeper of the
Transdimensional Gateway Between the Marvel and DC Multiverses

Affiliations: various heroes of the DC and Marvel
multiverses,
a
future version of himself,
loose association with the Brothers;
Ming Kuo-Fan (girlfriend on Earth-616);
Caitlin Fitzgerald (girlfriend on the mainstream DC Universe)

Base of Operations: New York City of Earth-616 (formerly),
various times and locations throughout the Marvel and DC multiverses
(currently)

First Appearance (possible): DC and MARVEL Present Bat
Man vs. the Incredible Hulk, "The Monster and the Madman." (See
Comments)

First Appearance (actual): DC Versus Marvel Comics#1 (December,
1995)

Powers/Abilities: Access has the power to create
inter-dimensional gateways between the Marvel and DC multiverses. He can also
use his gateways to teleport to different locations within the same multiverse.
It was later learned that Access can also time travel by means of his gateways.
Access can sense whenever something from one multiverse is wrongfully present
in the other multiverse. As the keeper of the Amalgam Universe, he can also
combine inhabitants from each universe into one amalgamated being. If Access
stays in one place too long, he can inadvertently cause spontaneous crossovers
to occur.

History:

(DC vs. Marvel#2 [fb])- In the beginning, there were two genderless
entities. They were the Yin and Yang, Good and Evil, the Mainyu. Each entity
encompassed the whole of everything, except each other. Once before they
came together in battle, unleashing forces that ended and then began creation
all over again. In the explosion of death and rebirth, the entities were
blasted apart -- their shattered essence fractured the new-born universe
into a pair of "multiverses". One entity became the embodiment of the "Marvel
Multiverse" while the other became the "DC Multiverse". Fragments of their
essence blew in all directions, and as the multiverses spread outward so
did the entities. It took them eons just to remember they had consciousness,
and after all that time their memory of each other had vanished.

(DCvM#2 [fb])- When Axel Asher was seven years old, he wandered
into his parents' bedroom and found his younger sister playing with a gun.
While attempting to grab the gun, he accidentally shot himself in the leg.
The injury left Asher with a slight limp and was the most traumatic event
that ever happened to him--until a pair of cosmic entities suddenly appeared
in his consciousness...

(Green Lantern/ Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances#1) The Silver
Surfer, of the Marvel Universe (Earth-616, specifically), came across a recently
destroyed world and its destroyer, the so-called
Cyborg Superman. The Cyborg (as he is more commonly known now) was pulled
from the DC Universe (DCU) by an unknown being. The two fought briefly, and the Cyborg
learned
that the Silver Surfer was once the herald of an all-powerful being called
Galactus. This battle was interrupted by Parallax (Hal Jordan, the mad
Earth-man), who wished to kill the
Cyborg for his crimes. While the Surfer prevented this assassination until
he could sort out the details, the Cyborg escapes. In the meantime, Kyle Rayner,
the current (and only remaining) Green Lantern of the DCU, was attacked on
his Earth by Terrax (another former herald of Galactus), who was attacked himself by Thanos,
the Mad Titan (both from Earth-616 or MU).
Thanos proceeded to befriend Green Lantern, convincing him that he had journeyed
across dimensions to fight a threat to all realities, a man named Hal
Jordan.

Parallax used the Surfer to power his own abilities to reconstruct
the timestream, starting by restoring the planet destroyed by the Cyborg.
Hal's plan to rewrite reality based upon his vision appeared as a chance for
the redemption the Silver Surfer had long sought, and he initially helped the madman.
Green Lantern was equally taken in by Thanos, who claimed that he needed Kyle's
cooperation to power a weapon designed to stop Hal Jordan. They traveled to
a reality breach at the former site of the planet Oa, where Kyle became
trapped in Thanos' device, a machine designed to destroy all reality. Parallax and
the Surfer arrived shortly thereafter and believed that Kyle was in league
with the Mad Titan. As Parallax and Thanos competed against each other for
the most cosmically unbalanced soul of two universes, the Silver Surfer rashly
attacked the Green Lantern. The two heroes did, of course, learn that they were on the same side and
teamed-up to stop the two demented demigods from unleashing total
annihilation. Kyle used his ring to contain all the energies of Oa stolen
by Thanos and, in turn, stored these energies within the body of the Silver
Surfer. With the loss of these energies, the rift closed, drawing Thanos
back to Earth-616 and plunging Parallax deeper into the DCU. The Surfer also
escaped to his home dimension before the breach sealed completely, and Kyle
Rayner returned to the Earth of the DCU, glad that the battle was over.

And in an alley of Manhattan in the DCU, a large cardboard box
begins to glow.

(DCvM#2 [fb])- Due to recent cosmos-shaking events that tore
the fabric of the multiverses and redefined reality, the entities became
aware of each other once more. Once again realizing that each was no longer
"Me" but "Us", they could not exist with their lack of uniqueness. Nor was
either one whole, for some of each of them wound up in each other's multiverse
as a result of their battle millennia ago. But in observing and understanding
the existence of their respective cosmic guardians, the Spectre of the DC
Multiverse and the Living Tribunal of the Marvel Multiverse, the entities
reached a solution. Based upon their beliefs that each of their respective
multiverses was intrinsically superior to the other's, both entities desired
to be "whole" and "unique". Realizing the futility of a head-to-head battle,
the entities instead chose to pit their respective super-powered beings against
each other in a war to end all wars and to end one multiverse. Whichever
side lost the most battles would vanish forever.

(DCvM#1)- Young Axel
Asher, a native of Earth-616 in the Marvel Multiverse, was walking down a
Manhattan back street when Spider-Man (Ben Reilly of Earth-616) was hit by a
trans-dimensional
beam of energy. The light show attracted the attention of Asher, who turned
into the alley only to find a homeless man trying to keep the energy contained
within his cardboard box. The homeless man recognized Asher and asked for
his help, but a confused Asher declined and fled the scene. Meanwhile, Spider-Man
found himself in a city by the name of Gotham (from the mainstream DCU).
When the homeless man was unable to maintain the integrity of his box any
longer, the trans-dimensional energy within came in contact with many more
inhabitants of both the mainstream Marvel and DC universes.

(DCvM#2)- Asher experienced hallucinations as a result of the
cosmic entities fighting within his mind when a New York City police officer
confronted him. Fortunately, Asher managed to slip away when a fight broke
out between Wolverine (Earth-616) and Killer Croc (of the mainstream DCU) nearby.
After an automatic teller machine refused to recognize his account, Asher
realized that he was not in Manhattan any longer. He wandered into a strangely
familiar alley where he found the homeless man that he left hours earlier.
The alley was actually a nexus between Marvel's Manhattan and DC's Gotham
City. The homeless man explained the history of the cosmic entities to Asher
and revealed that he, the cardboard box, and Asher himself were all shards
that fragmented from the cosmic entities in the Big Bang. That was why Asher
became aware of the cosmic entities.

(DCvM#3)- Asher became overwhelmed at the huge responsibility
thrust upon him and began to doubt the homeless man's claims. But then the
homeless man grabbed Asher by the wrist to unleash the power within him--
transforming Axel Asher into the costumed Access. The homeless man revealed
that he had been the keeper of the trans-dimensional gateway between the two
multiverses-- and now it was up to Access to take up the mantle and preserve
the balance between the two multiverses. Later, after Batman (mainstream DCU) defeated Captain
America (Earth-616) in the final battle to decide which multiverse won, the two heroes
spotted the glowing box in the alley. Access attempted to recruit Batman
and Captain America in a last-ditch effort to save both multiverses,
but before he could the Living Tribunal and the Spectre attempted to do the same
thing by starting everything over again and merging the cosmic
entities into one Amalgam Multiverse.

(DCvM#4 [fb])- Access hid the last remaining shards of the
DC and Marvel multiverses within Batman and Captain America prior to the
creation of the Amalgam Multiverse. The homeless man helped Access jump to
a state of consciousness in between the two entities when they merged into
the Amalgam Multiverse.

(Dr. Strangefate#1)- Re-emerging in the merged Amalgam Multiverse,
Access was only one of three beings aware that the DC and Marvel multiverses
ever existed. After a near-fatal altercation with the monstrous Abominite
in the sewers of New Gotham, Access discovered he had the ability to teleport.
Dr. Strangefate sensed Access' presence in the mainstream Amalgam Universe
and realized that his presence threatened the fabric of his merged
pseudo-reality. Access was apprehended by Strangefate's minions and taken
to Arkham Tower where he was detained by Strangefate himself. In order to
preserve the Amalgam Multiverse, Dr. Strangefate attempted to destroy Access,
along with the shards of the previous multiverses which were the keys to
undoing the Amalgam Universe. But when Strangefate realized that Access did
not have the shards with him, he found himself unprepared and Access escaped
in the confusion.

(DCvM#4)- In an alley in New Gotham in the Amalgam multiverse,
Access was reunited with his homeless mentor, who had aged considerably since
the multiverses were merged. The homeless man sacrificed himself in a burst
of light to attract the attention of Dark Claw and Super-Soldier, two heroes
native to the mainstream Amalgam Universe. When Dark Claw and Super-Soldier
arrived on the scene, Access revealed that he hid the leftover shards of
the original multiverses within the amalgamated heroes. He gave the Living
Tribunal and the Spectre access to the power of the shards, which they used
to restore the original Marvel and DC multiverses. After the separation,
Access found himself in the same alley where he started alongside Captain
America and Batman. Finally separated, the cosmic entities were about to
fight each other, which would mean the certain destruction of both multiverses.
Access teleported Batman and Captain America to a cosmic state of mind outside
the embodiments of both multiverses. Inspired by the heroic lives of Batman
and Captain America, the cosmic entities looked at each other and stopped
fighting-- each coming to the slow realization that they who encompassed
the whole of reality had become smaller than the smallest of their components.
The entities spoke to each other for the first time and congratulated each
other on a job well done. The DC and Marvel multiverses separated once
more.

(All Access#4 (fb))- When the Amalgam Multiverse separated,
Dr. Strangefate hid himself in the subconscious of the mainstream Marvel
Universe's Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Strangefate subconsciously manipulated Dr. Strange
to shift people from one multiverse to the other in an attempt to pave the
way for Amalgam's return.

(AllAcc#1(fb))- Back in his native Earth-616, Axel Asher attended graduate school at Empire State University
and met his future girlfriend, Ming Kuo-Fan, in Chinese history class.

(AllAcc#1)- Six months later, a restless Axel Asher visited
Ming at her family's Greenwich Village restaurant when he started experiencing
violent flashbacks of the recent war between the cosmic entities that embodied
the DC and Marvel multiverses. Asher came back to his senses, only to realize
that Venom had somehow found his way into the mainstream DCU. Axel
left on a mission to bring Venom back to Marvel's Earth-616, for even one
person in the wrong universe might cause a fissure in the fabric of reality.
If the fissure lasted too long, the multiverses could start merging again,
and the Amalgam Multiverse could return forever. Asher entered a nearby alley,
transformed into Access, and teleported himself to Metropolis in the mainstream
DCU where he saved Caitlin Fitzgerald from Venom. Superman arrived
on the scene and kept Venom occupied while Access transported back to Earth-616 to enlist Spider-Man's aid. Venom held his own again Superman and
Spider-Man, but Access returned with a sonic generator from S.T.A.R. Labs
and forced the Venom symbiote to separate from Eddie Brock. Access returned
to Earth-616 with Spider-Man and Venom.
Meanwhile, Dr. Strange plotted from his sanctum on Earth-616.

(AllAcc#2)- With everyone back in their proper universes, Asher
enjoyed a romantic horse-and-buggy ride with Ming, only to be interrupted
by Jubilee of Generation X. While most other heroes only had a hazy, cosmic
recollection of Access, Jubilee kept a diary of her time in the mainstream
DCU and remembered everything. She wanted Access to take her back
to Gotham City so she could say good-bye to Robin, with whom she developed
a relationship before the multiverses were separated again. Access reluctantly
agreed and transported her to Gotham City in the mainstream DCU.
With Jublilee and Robin reunited, Access took a walk to give the multiverse-crossed
teens (top that Shakespeare!--Kyle) some privacy, only to be knocked unconscious by Two-Face. Pooling their
resources, Robin and Jubilee were eventually able to take down Two-Face.
But just as Access reunited with the child heroes, the Scorpion of Earth-616 attacked in Gotham City.

(AllAcc#3)- Batman showed up and made short work of the Scorpion.
As Access sent Scorpion back to Earth-616, he explained to Batman that
he was not responsible for the crossing over of Venom and Scorpion to the
DC Multiverse. Batman agreed to travel back to Earth-616 of the Marvel multiverse
with Access to help find out what was causing the spontaneous crossovers.
Access dropped Batman off on a rooftop and teleported Jubilee back to the
X-Mansion in Westchester. On the roof of a Manhattan building in Earth-616,
Access told Batman about Dr. Strangefate and the Amalgam Multiverse when
he noticed that the windows on a particular Greenwich Village building were
the same as the windows that adorned Strangefate's Arkham Tower in the former
Amalgam Multiverse.

Batman and Access entered the Greenwich Village building,
which was the sanctum of Dr. Strange, and confronted the Sorcerer Supreme.
Dr. Strange denied any knowledge of the Amalgam Multiverse. Batman was about
to forcibly take Dr. Strange back to the DC Multiverse to have his subconscious
probed, when Jubilee entered the sanctum with the X-Men. Phoenix probed Dr.
Strange's mind but found nothing unexpected or out of the ordinary. But Batman,
still insisting that Dr. Strange was the cause of the inter-dimensional
disturbances, got into a fight with the X-Men. Access returned with the Justice
League to even the odds.

(AllAcc#4)- Despite Access' efforts to keep the peace, the
Justice League and X-Men soon got into a huge fight within Dr. Strange's
sanctum. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange felt a presence taking over his own mind
and collapsed. The battle between the JLA and X-Men raged on and stopped
only when Dr. Strange reemerged as Dr. Strangefate. Strangefate clung to
a shadow existence within Dr. Strange until he had the strength and opportunity
to take physical form. Strangefate imprisoned Dr. Strange's astral form and
caused it to careen from one dimension to another, never allowing Dr. Strange
enough time to effect an escape.

Meanwhile, Strangefate used Strange's body for his own purposes. Strangefate began to reshape the separate multiverses
back into the Amalgam Multiverse by merging the JLA with the X-Men. Access
managed to escape and free Dr. Strange's astral form. They returned to
Earth-616's Greewich Village only to find that Strange's sanctum had already
been replaced by Strangefate's Arkham Tower. Dr. Strange's astral form merged
with Strangefate and regained control. Victorious, Dr. Strange allowed a
semblance of Strangefate's Amalgam reality to exist within a contained vessel
and gave the vessel to Access for safe-keeping. With the crisis averted,
Access returned the Justice League to the mainstream DCU.

(AllAcc#4)- Asher started a relationship with Caitlin Fitzgerald
of the mainstream DCU.

(Batman / Spider-Man#1 - BTS? (see comments)) The story opened with scenes of violence
and disasters being broadcast on television. The channel changed to Cable
Access 6, where a man was preaching the need for a savior "from the firestorm that's
coming." Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime (Earth-616) in NYC, had been dealing with
Ra's al Ghul's terrorist organization the Demon's Head (DCU) for 18 months. He then
discovered that Ra's had
the ability to cure his wife, Vanessa Fisk, of a particularly resistant strain
of cancer. Ra's' daughter Talia offered this cure in exchange for Fisk's
cooperation in a plot to commit mass destruction, starting with New York
City. Fisk traveled to Tibet, discovered the full scope of Ra's' vision,
and betrayed him to Spider-Man and Batman, who had been following the terrorist
organizations recent activities. This betrayal amused Ra's, who then offered
everyone a free ride home (?!). Spider-Man was certain they would not be allowing
Ra's to walk away scott free, but Batman told him that, should they fight
Ra's al Ghul on his home turf, none of them would leave alive (although
Batman was
perfectly willing to take on the Demon's Head on his own every other time
they met).

(Green Lantern#87 [occurs simultaneously with Unlimited Access
#1])- Access showed up in the DCU, looking for Kyle Raynor/Green Lantern.
When he discovered that Raynor was not there, he went to look for "that guy on the
surfboard."

(Unlimited Access#1)- Access returned to Earth-616
after sorting out the mess involving Spider-Man, the Kingpin, Batman, and Ra's
al-Ghul. Upon his return, Access' girlfriend Ming was attacked by the
Apkoliptan Evil God known as Mantis (a native of the DC multiverse). Access
escaped with Ming while Spider-Man took on Mantis and his new partner, the
Juggernaut. Access teleported back to the scene with Wonder Woman (of the
mainstream DCU) to even the odds. After the villains were defeated,
Access could not seem to locate the exact location in the DC Multiverse from
which Mantis originated. But before he could figure it out, both Mantis and
Juggernaut were struck by a beam of light and removed from the Marvel Multiverse
altogether. Access had no idea from where the beam came.

Access then returned
Wonder Woman to the mainstream DCU when he was attacked by the original
savage Hulk. The Green Lantern known as Hal Jordan came to Access' rescue,
causing Access to come to the conclusion that he must have somehow traveled
back in time because Hal Jordan was currently dead in the mainstream DCU.
Access teleported the savage Hulk back to the Marvel's Earth-616, but, after
teleporting again, found himself stranded in the Old West era of the mainstream
DCU. Access met up with the bounty hunter Jonah Hex (of the DC Multiverse) and the Two-Gun Kid (of the Marvel Multiverse). Access teleported
Two-Gun Kid back to his proper time and universe and later teleported with
Jonah Hex to prevent the bounty hunter from getting ambushed in a gunfight.
But Access lost Jonah in the limbo realm between the two multiverses. When
Access reemerged, he found himself in the "Days of Future Past" alternate
future timeline of the Marvel Universe.

(UmlAcc#2)- In the "Days of Future Past" timeline, Access was
attacked by one of the government's mutant-hunting Sentinel robots, only
to be saved by Apparition, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Saturn Girl, Spark,
Triad, Ultra Boy (collectively known as the Legion of Superheroes of the 30th century
in the mainstream DCU). The heroes met up with Wolverine
of the "Days of Future Past" era and were led to an underground mutant refuge.
At the refuge they were introduced to Storm, Magneto, Shadowcat. Colossus,
Rachel Summers, and Franklin Richards (collectively known as the X-Men in
the "Days of Future Past" timeline). Access teleported the Legion of Superheroes
back to the DCU just as Sentinels attacked the "Days of Future Past"
X-Men.

When Access reemerged from his portal, he found himself in Gotham
City with a young Batman and the original yellow Daredevil.
Access lost control of his powers, causing eras to morph and merge and change,
as he increasingly and uncontrollably careened back and forth through time.
Both the Time Variance Authority (of the Marvel Multiverse) and the Linear
Men (of the DC Multiverse) were tracking Access, who they viewed as a massive
time anomaly, when he was suddenly pulled out of the timestream by Morty,
the homeless man who was the previous keeper of the trans-dimensional gateway.
Morty explained that they were in the mainstream Marvel Universe ten years
in the past-- so Morty had not sacrificed himself yet at this point in time.
Morty explained that he was actually an older version of Axel Asher--since
Access had the ability to time travel, there only needed to be one of them (the story
Morty told Access earlier about there being a "long line of keepers of the
trans-dimensional gateway" was only a lie to help Axel keep his sanity). Morty
explained that crossovers would spontaneously occur if Access ever stayed
in one place for too long.

Morty was about to reveal more when he realized
that the both of them being in the same place had caused an inter-dimensional
"floodgate". Morty escaped through a portal just as Darkseid (mainstream
DCU) led an Apokoliptan invasion force into the mainstream Marvel Universe,
Earth-616. Darkseid made Access an offer: if Axel joined with Darkseid, he
would not die as a homeless man. Before Access answered, the Apokoliptan
invasion force was attacked by Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man,
and the Wasp (the original Avengers from ten years in the past of the mainstream
Marvel Universe). The Avengers were slowly picked apart by Darkseid's forces
when another inter-dimensional portal opened up and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan),
the Flash (Barry Allen), Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, and Aquaman (the
original Justice League from ten years in the past of the mainstream DCU)
entered the battle. The combined forces of the JLA and Avengers overpowered
Darkseid's minions, but the Apokoliptan Amazing Grace used her mind control
powers to persuade the male members of the JLA and Avengers to fight each
other as Darkseid's forces retreat.

(UnlAcc#3)- The original Avengers and the original Justice
League continued to fight each other. Meanwhile, Darkseid's invasion force
reemerged on Magneto's Asteroid M. Darkseid made a deal with Magneto and
his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to join forces. Back on Earth, Access teleported
Superman (in his former, short-lived energy form at the time) to the scene of the battle. Using his
electricity-based powers, Superman shocked the Avengers and Justice League
out of Amazing Grace's mind control. Darkseid's Para-Demons attacked the
rehabilitated heroes while Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind, and Toad
(collectively known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) attempted to kidnap
Access. Access summoned Superboy, Impulse, Robin, Wonder Girl, and Captain
Marvel Jr. (from the mainstream DCU) to help him fend off the
Brotherhood's attack.
Juggernaut, Mystique,
the Blob, and Sabretooth soon arrived to back-up the Brotherhood. Cyclops,
Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast, and Angel (the original X-Men of ten years ago)
arrived on the scene and turned the tide of battle. The Evil Mutants escaped
through the teleportational device known as a Boom Tube back to Asteroid M, as Magneto and Darkseid let their
alliance be known to the world. After disagreeing over what step to take
next, Robin and Angel got into a fight. When Access pushed both of the heroes
away to break it up, he found that he amalgamated them into one being --
Redwing.

(UnlAcc#4)- All of the heroes gathered together to form a plan
of action. An astral projection of Professor X revealed that the forces of
Magneto and Darkseid were amassing in Earth's orbit on Asteroid M. Using
his newfound power of amalgamation, Access merged the DC and Marvel heroes
together and teleported the Justice League Satellite over to the Marvel Universe
to use as transportation. Meanwhile, a mysterious cloaked figure under the
employ of Darkseid was amalgamating the villains in anticipation of Access'
attack. Access and his amalgamated "X-League" attacked Asteroid M, only to
be met by an amalgamated "Brotherhood of Evil Gods". Meanwhile on Earth,
the remaining unamalgamated heroes continued to battle Darkseid's invading
armies. While the battle between the X-League and Brotherhood of Evil Gods
continued on Asteroid M, Access was confronted by Darkseid and his mysterious
cloaked associate. The cloaked figure revealed himself to be a future version
of Access who decided to join Darkseid. Darkseid's Access attacked the mainstream
Access, causing the two to tumble through a multitude of bizarre alternate
Amalgam Universes. Realizing that he was losing, Access decided to merge
with his evil counterpart. Reemerging on Asteroid M, the amalgamated Access
refused to join forces with Darkseid. Darkseid threatened to have Mantis
and Juggernaut kidnap Ming in the future if Access did not comply, but Access
revealed that the two villains were already beaten by Spider-Man and Wonder
Woman. After Darkseid made a derogatory statement about mutants, Magneto
and the Brotherhood turn on the Evil God. Darkseid effortlessly cast the
mutants away and announced his desire to be sent back to his proper time
and universe, although he vowed to one day break Access and re-make him in
his own image. Access undid all of the amalgamated heroes and villains and
returned them to their proper times and universes.

(Superman/Fantastic Four-BTS) - When Superman (Clark Kent)
discovered that Galactus may have been responsible for the destruction of his home planet of Krypton,
he sought the Fantastic Four's aid to bring Galactus to justice. But unbeknownst
to the heroes, the evil Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) had plans of his own
for Galactus--plans that took an unexpected and dire turn... (Superman mentioned that he had tracked down Access in order to travel to
Earth-616.)

Comments: Created by Peter David and Ron Marz (and Mark
Gruenwald?); additional character development by Karl Kesel

Since the New Universe's Earth was physically removed and
taken to the universe of the Earth-616 Marvel universe that may explain why
it became a part of the Amalgam universe. Also, since they used the idea
that "Morty" was actually an older version of Access, they stole an idea
from Starbrand, when the Old Man turned out to be a time-traveling Ken Connell--Per Degaton.

Thanks to Ivan Schablotski for providing synopsis for UNHOLY
ALLIANCES, BATMAN/SPIDER-MAN and GREEN LANTERN#87. Ivan notes of the
Batman/Spider-Man crossover that "The story is largely inconsequential in
the life of Axel Asher. Everything occurs in a 'Shared-Earth' environment,
and the scope of this crossover goes quite beyond the typical 'shunting'
of a character (or even a whole city) from one reality to another. The reference
to this story in UNLIMITED ACCESS#1 was likely thrown in merely to acknowledge
the recently published crossover. One can infer (though not verify) that
this story was the result of a prolonged phase-shift that caused the Earth-616
Manhattan Island (and all residents thereof) to overlap that same portion
of the Earth in the DCU for a period of no less than 18 months. Access would
then have been charged with 'disconnecting' the parallel Manhattans from
each other to end the crossover. Again, this is only speculation, and such
a feat seems beyond the level of control Access exhibits at the beginning
of UNLIMITED ACCESS#1."

Referring to the Green Lantern / Silver Surfer crossover,
Unholy Alliances, Ivan mentions "Cyborg learns that the Silver Surfer was
once the herald of an all-powerful being called Galactus. This knowledge
becomes his motivation for luring Superman to Earth-616 in SUPERMAN / FANTASTIC
FOUR, a book published four years later. Gotta' give DC credit for keeping
track of the continuity of these crossovers."

He also provides a fuller synopsis and comments on Green
Lantern#87: "The opening scene of this book has Axel Asher arriving through
a portal into Kyle Rayner's Greenwich Village apartment in the DCU. He is
seeking Green Lantern's help (to battle Mantis and Juggernaut in UNLIMITED
ACCESS#1, though this is not mentioned in this issue). Instead of Kyle Rayner,
Access finds Jade, Kyle's green-skinned superheroine girlfriend. Axel states
that Jade's powers are not similar to Kyle's (a revelation for Jade) and
departs, hoping to find somebody else. "Maybe that guy on the surfboard."
These first three pages are the only part of this comic relevant to ACCESS,
and do not tie directly into the main story. That Access is equally unsuccessful
in locating the Silver Surfer is confirmed in UNLIMITED ACCESS#1 page 16
panel 4. These pages therefore take place between Axel's appearance on UA
#1 page 8 and his arrival on the West Coast of the DCU Earth four years in
the past to enlist Wonder Woman's aid (behind the scenes)."

Crazy Ivan even has more to offer--a POSSIBLE, alternate first
appearance for Access:

Just re-reading the Bat-Man vs. the Incredible Hulk reprint
[originally the treasury-edition "DC and MARVEL Present Bat Man vs. the
Incredible Hulk"], and I noticed at one point the Hulk is about to beat the
snot out of some punk in an alley in Gotham City. The guy's name is Morty,
which is a known alias of Axel Asher.

Could this be Access, at some point after UNLIMITED ACCESS#4, traveling back to
the Silver Age to fix a crossover the way he did the BATMAN / SPIDER-MAN
crossover (i.e., behind the scenes)? This particular Morty has black hair,
and appears to be a mugger, but this could have all been a cover Axel devised to
insert himself into the scenario without alerting anyone to his presence.
Why should he need a disguise, when everyone usually forgets him after the
crossover is over? Because one of the players in this tale is the
reality-altering Shaper Of Worlds, and such a cosmic wild card could allow
Batman, Joker, or the Hulk access to knowledge they would normally not keep[ in
a crossover universe].

OK. Here's the "official"
deal.

A
universe is a
reality/dimension, etc., like for example: Earth-616, Earth-Days of Future
Past, the
New
Universe, the mainstream DC Universe, etc. Hint: Uni- means "One."

A
multiverse is a
group of similar realities often separated by a single divergent event, such
as Earth-616, Earth-Days of Future Past, etc. To explain further, the presence
of a counterpart of Eternity, the Watchers, and the standard cosmic entities
would tend to place a reality within that multiverse. What If worlds, etc.
fit this group.
Worlds that have a markedly different composition, such as the New Universe,
or the DC Universe(s), or for that matter the Image Universe(s), Archie Comics,
Dr. Who, etc., etc., etc., who be placed in separate mulitiverses. In some
cases, as with many comic companies, there is a group of dimensions within
its multiverse. While the New Universe is in a separate Multiverse than
Earth-616, it is apparently closely enough affiliated that the Brothers saw
fit to include it in the Amalgamation process.Remember, Multi- means "Many."

It has been suggested that there may be one more division present
between Multiverse and Omniverse, to link asociated worlds, such as those
linked to Marvel, and to keep distinct from other such groupings, such as
those associated with DC or other titles. Thus worlds like the New Universe
or the Shadowline might be contained within the MarvelMegaverse. Mega means
"large" or "great".

The
Omniverse is the
single collective entity which contains all of the Multiverses. Everything,
from the Marvel Multiverses, to the DC Universes, to Fred Flintstone, Archie,
and even Earth-Prime (that's the real, non-comic world) would be within the
one Omniverse.Hint: Omni- means "All or Every."

It's not always clear whether to individual universes are within
the same Multiverse, and its always up for debate.

For this entry, the Marvel and DC Multiverses were and are clearly
separate, but both within the Omniverse. I guess I would classify the Amalgam
universe as an overlap of the two Multiverses, although the pocket realm
created now represents a separate and distinct entity. It would, I believe,
be separate from either Multiverse, but part of the same Omniverse.

I have edited the content of this entry to reflect this system
of classification.

--Snood.

Thanks to Per Degaton for pointing out the
mention from Superman/Fantastic Four.